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Anthony's Reviews > Pachinko
Pachinko
by
by
Anthony's review
bookshelves: national-book-award-nominees, modern-american-lit, poc-authors, 2021-popsugar-challenge, 2021-sffbc-tbr-challenge, queer-content
May 07, 2021
bookshelves: national-book-award-nominees, modern-american-lit, poc-authors, 2021-popsugar-challenge, 2021-sffbc-tbr-challenge, queer-content
This is an excellent, sprawling — and intimate — portrait of four generations of a Korean family, before and after they emigrate to Japan in the early 20th Century. I had been unaware of the complicated, painful colonial chapter of Japan-Korea relations until I worked in Seoul a number of years ago, and I met an older Korean translator who shared with me some of the history. This novel is the first work of art I’ve found that attempts to explore and bring to life this history, and Min Jin Lee’s compassionate approach does a beautiful job of making the history personal and specific.
She works in what has become a very unusual style: her third-person voice is omniscient, in some cases inhabiting the thoughts of two or more characters on a single page. She pulls this off seamlessly and effortlessly.
She also brings a welcome subtlety and precision to her writing, and that subtlety and control allow her to run a wide gamut in her depictions of scenes and moments.
I really admire this book very much, and I felt quite drawn in and compelled by it. But I was only rarely moved, and that’s the factor that keeps it from rising to 5 stars. But it really is an excellent novel, well worth reading.
She works in what has become a very unusual style: her third-person voice is omniscient, in some cases inhabiting the thoughts of two or more characters on a single page. She pulls this off seamlessly and effortlessly.
She also brings a welcome subtlety and precision to her writing, and that subtlety and control allow her to run a wide gamut in her depictions of scenes and moments.
I really admire this book very much, and I felt quite drawn in and compelled by it. But I was only rarely moved, and that’s the factor that keeps it from rising to 5 stars. But it really is an excellent novel, well worth reading.
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Reading Progress
May 4, 2020
– Shelved
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
national-book-award-nominees
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
modern-american-lit
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
poc-authors
December 12, 2020
– Shelved as:
2021-popsugar-challenge
December 16, 2020
– Shelved as:
2021-sffbc-tbr-challenge
April 30, 2021
–
Started Reading
May 1, 2021
–
18.0%
"It’s refreshing to read a novel as delicately and subtly crafted as this one is in the early going."
May 5, 2021
–
68.0%
"Finished Part 2. I continue to be impressed by Min Jin Lee’s subtle, sure handed approach. I’m also struck by her facility with the omniscient 3rd-person voice; I hadn’t realized how rare it is to read books that are not written in limited 3rd-person."
May 6, 2021
– Shelved as:
queer-content
May 7, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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There is a large Christian presence in Korea, so I think that’s why it was so prevalent in this novel.
Indeed. I found myself rather hoping the 'minority' status of that too had been emphasized a bit more, though. Perhaps. Given the rare opportunity where Christian POV would be such.
It was pretty well emphasized, with the persecution and jailing incident…
Great review Anthony!! I felt very similarly when I read it! I will say that the novel has stuck with me in a way that very few do. In hindsight, I may have undervalued it. It's a very affecting novel that lingers in the mind for years to come.
I think it’s a truly remarkable achievement, Monica. I just never felt that ultimate transcendence that leads me to a 5-star rating, but I have no real complaint about it at all. One aspect that works especially well that I didn’t specify in my review is how simply and effectively she depicts violence, grief, and shocking moments. There is never any melodrama on view. It all feels exceedingly grounded and compassionately rendered. And that in and of itself is quite an accomplishment.
Great review Anthony!
I think it was also the first narrative I've encountered set in Japan with Christianity in prominence.